Legal Definitions - gray-market adoption

Gray-market adoption is a type of adoption that is not regulated by the government. It is also known as private adoption. In this type of adoption, the birth parents and adoptive parents make an agreement without the involvement of an adoption agency or the court system.

• John and Mary want to adopt a baby. They find a pregnant woman who is willing to give up her baby for adoption. They make an agreement with her and take the baby home after it is born. This is an example of gray-market adoption.
• Susan and Tom want to adopt a child from another country. They find a person who claims to be able to arrange the adoption for them. They pay the person a large sum of money, but later find out that the adoption was not legal. This is an example of illegal gray-market adoption.

The examples illustrate that gray-market adoption can be risky because it is not regulated by the government. It is important for adoptive parents to do their research and make sure that the adoption is legal and ethical.